Elinor Jensen, Well-respected Broward Artistic Potter

OBITUARIES

Elinor Jensen, who turned a hobby into a business and built a reputation as one of South Florida`s top artistic potters, died on Thursday at Broward General Medical Center. She was 57.

Pottery ``was her life`s work. She literally died with clay under her fingernails,`` said Linda Mielke, a Fort Lauderdale potter who learned the craft from Mrs. Jensen.

Mrs. Jensen, a native of New York City, moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1953. She and her husband, the late David Jensen, divorced in 1967. Left to support herself and her two children, Lee and Carol, she found work as a secretary. The job was unsatisfying, however, and she decided to turn her interest in ceramics into a full-time occupation.

``It`s a hard business and takes a lot of work (to succeed). It`s not a ladylike profession at all,`` Mielke said. ``It takes true grit to do it, and she had it.``

After four lean years and a number of courses at various workshops and sessions at the Arrowmont School of Crafts in Tennessee, Mrs. Jensen began to get invitations to display her work at galleries and exhibits throughout the state. She also became a member of the Ceramic League of Miami and began selling her pottery to merchants and galleries and at art shows from Miami to Virginia Beach, Va.

She also opened her Pottery by Elinor studio on Las Olas Boulevard in the late 1960s. Later she moved the shop to Andrews Avenue, where she continued to make pottery and teach private clients. She began to specialize in raku pottery, which uses a kiln-firing technique that creates cracks in the glaze and allows for metallic lusters.

``She was the most eminent raku artist in this area,`` Mielke said. ``I had the utmost respect for her work ... She was generous with her knowledge. When an artist potter had a question, you called her. She really knew her craft.``

After almost seven years of running her own retail operation, Mrs. Jensen closed the store and moved to a studio at home. The move allowed her to focus on her art work.

``It`s very hard to be a teacher and a creative potter at the same time,`` Mrs. Jensen once said.

Her work won her numerous honors, including the Wiggins Award at the Coconut Grove Art Show and a first prize at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Show.